Ice Fishing: what's your best recipe for success

[HarryToolips]

Going out tomorrow, last week I didn't have any luck using pink maggots, with a gold flasher about 1' above the hook..I'm not a very experienced fisherman, so I dunno if it was my setup, or maybe just the lake or time of the day...I was going into the deepest part of the lake, sinking my line until I hit bottom then bringing it up 1-2' from the bottom...what works for all of you??

[RyoTHC]

not sure what you're fishing for.. but in zone 3, I can't keep the trout off my hook switching between wax worms and cubes of cocktail shrimp (thawed).

[swamper]

Depends on what fish you are targeting. If you are going after Kokanee use a small jig with a couple of maggots on it and have it about 14-15" below you flasher. We generally fish in about 35-40 feet of water and go about 18-20 feet down. Short stroke jigs seem to work the best. If you are fishing for rainbow you can fish in shallower water and about half way to the bottom.
This seems to work for us at 10 mile lake in Quesnel.

[two-feet]

For trout i target 8-10 feet of water, fishing a foot off bottom. Bit of bacon fat on a small spoon (crocodile) for bait until i get one, then switch to fish eye ball (best bait ever). Creek mouths are best.

[Edzzed]

I don't ice fish but if I did, I'd go with Donald Trumps method. It seems to work.


This
explains it so well!
Different
between a successful businessman and a
career politician
How
do you settle a presidential election when
the vote is too close to call?
...

With
a fishing contest in northern Wisconsin
in January, of course!
After
the first round of votes was counted,
Hillary and Donald were deadlocked.
Instead of going through a recount, they
agreed to a week-long ice fishing
contest to settle the election. Whoever
caught the most fish at the end of the
week would be the President.


They decided that a remote frozen lake
in northern Wisconsin would be the ideal
place.


No observers on the fishing grounds, but
both would need to have their catches
verified and counted each night at 5 pm.
After
Day 1, Trump returned with a total of 10
fish, Hillary came back with nothing.
Day
2 finished and Trump caught another 20
fish, but Hillary once again came back
with nothing.


That night, Hillary and her cronies got
together and accused Trump of being a
“low-life, cheating son-of-a-gun.”


Instead of fishing on Day 3, they were
going to follow him and spy on him to
figure out how he was cheating.


Day 3 finished and Trump had an
incredible day, adding 50 fish to his
total.
That
night Hillary and her democratic cohorts
got together for a full report on how
Donald was cheating. Hillary stood up to
give her report and said, “You are not
going to believe this - he’s cutting
holes in the ice!”
And
this story…tells you all you need to
know about the difference between a
successful businessman and a career
government politician.

[goatdancer]

For trout i target 8-10 feet of water, fishing a foot off bottom. Bit of bacon fat on a small spoon (crocodile) for bait until i get one, then switch to fish eye ball (best bait ever). Creek mouths are best.

Fish eye ball? Don't think that's legal in most of the province.

[tigrr]

lake, target fish, would help us help you.

[Wild one]

Every lake is different, every species of fish is different also if they are stocked or wild plays a roll

You could always break out the chainsaw and try trolling lol

[xcaribooer]

brookies - deli shrimp on a plain hook.
rainbows try pink krill with a piece of corn above on plain hook
ive never bothered with any kind of attractor like a flasher or anything but it cant hurt
ive never noticed brookies be leader shy but you might want to use 2' of smaller size tippet material below a small barrel swivel for rainbows

[Bear Chaser]

My technique is completely ineffective.
I stand and shiver and watch the other people catch fish. Then I go back to the store and yell at the kid who sold me shitty hooks.

[HarryToolips]

Wicked thanks for the replies folks, sorry I didn't say it before: I'm going for rainbows..

[HarryToolips]

I don't ice fish but if I did, I'd go with Donald Trumps method. It seems to work.


This
explains it so well!
Different
between a successful businessman and a
career politician
How
do you settle a presidential election when
the vote is too close to call?
...

With
a fishing contest in northern Wisconsin
in January, of course!
After
the first round of votes was counted,
Hillary and Donald were deadlocked.
Instead of going through a recount, they
agreed to a week-long ice fishing
contest to settle the election. Whoever
caught the most fish at the end of the
week would be the President.


They decided that a remote frozen lake
in northern Wisconsin would be the ideal
place.


No observers on the fishing grounds, but
both would need to have their catches
verified and counted each night at 5 pm.
After
Day 1, Trump returned with a total of 10
fish, Hillary came back with nothing.
Day
2 finished and Trump caught another 20
fish, but Hillary once again came back
with nothing.


That night, Hillary and her cronies got
together and accused Trump of being a
“low-life, cheating son-of-a-gun.”


Instead of fishing on Day 3, they were
going to follow him and spy on him to
figure out how he was cheating.


Day 3 finished and Trump had an
incredible day, adding 50 fish to his
total.
That
night Hillary and her democratic cohorts
got together for a full report on how
Donald was cheating. Hillary stood up to
give her report and said, “You are not
going to believe this - he’s cutting
holes in the ice!”
And
this story…tells you all you need to
know about the difference between a
successful businessman and a career
government politician.







Lol............

[albravo2]

Fish eye ball? Don't think that's legal in most of the province.

Why would fish eyeball be any different than shrimp or maggots?

Reminds me of an old joke:
What do you call a fish with no eye?

Fsh

[goatdancer]

Why would fish eyeball be any different than shrimp or maggots?

Reminds me of an old joke:
What do you call a fish with no eye?

Fsh

Check the regs regarding 'bait'.

[Wild one]

A jig with a spinner blade on it tipped with shrimp or a worm. 10-20 ft water work your way up from the bottom till you find the depth they are at. Jig for a min stop for a min most often they hit on the pause. Focuse on structure like points if ice is thick enough near creeks.

works where I fish may work for you

[tuner]

My technique is completely ineffective.
I stand and shiver and watch the other people catch fish. Then I go back to the store and yell at the kid who sold me shitty hooks.
This is awesome, thanx for the laugh.

[wrenchhead]

For rainbows I use a four inch spoon with a hook tied on a leader about a foot below... With a worm or meal worm, let it down to the bottom and reel it up a crank or two. Seems to work most places, if I don't get a bite after 15 minutes or so move on to another hole.

[two-feet]

Fish eye ball? Don't think that's legal in most of the province.

I stand corrected, do not use fish eye balls! Thanks for pointing that out.

[HarryToolips]

Sounds like some good methods, thanks guys...

[sawmill]

Chicken skin cut in long thin strips maybe 4-5 inches long and hooked through one end. You can make them swim and wiggle and move side to side. I fish trout in 10-14 feet of water and let the bait hit the bottom and stir up some mud. Another thing I use is crushed egg shells, they sink and allows you to see the bottom better.

[wideopenthrottle]

Every lake is different, every species of fish is different also if they are stocked or wild plays a roll

You could always break out the chainsaw and try trolling lol

that is how we would retrieve sunken snowmobiles....get a rope on the machine with a diver or if shallower a pike pole/ rope with hook...we would then cut a chainsaw grove towards thicker ice and drag the machine along the bottom to where the ice was thick enough to cut a hole big enough to lift it out with ice thick enough to support a few guys lifting it up ...sometimes we would laugh that we were using the skidoo to troll for submarines...heheheh

[Bigdoggdon]

I do a lot of ice fishing, generally for brookies and rainbows and occaisionally burbot. For trout my tried and true method is fish in 8-12 feet of water, use a 3-4 inch spoon as a flasher with a 15-20 inch leader from the flasher down to a single red hook(size 1 or 2), bait with shrimp. When I bait the hook I thread the shrimp onto the hook so that the eye of the hook looks like the shrimps head and the point of the hook looks like the shrimps tail or swimmerets (which is why I like red hooks). I set my depth approximately a foot off the bottom, adjust depth if you notice the fish coming in higher or lower. Every couple of minutes I pull the flasher to the surface and let it fall, it will tumble and weave like a wounded fish attracting fish passing by to your bait.

For Burbot and Lakers I will fish deep lakes 80-100 feet down and bottom bounce a big spoon (4-6") like a williams wobbler or a ruby eye.

[boxhitch]

Rig up a punt/boat/kayak with cushy seats and a stove for a warm lunch and Fishn'Buddy
One line on each side, vary the lure and depth til the first strike

[Glenny]

I have always done well using a 5 of diamonds spoon with a wormp on it for rainbows. Jig it aggressively.

[tigrr]

Here we dead stick for rainbows with mealworms, shrimp, krill, maggots or power bait. Single hook with a split shot up near the clasp. Lower it down to bottom and leave it sit, 1 foot up. Out fishes all other methods.

[sawmill]

Get a small pop up ice shack, allowes you to see what`s going on down there. You would be amazed at how many big fish swim by and look but never bite. If you can see them you can B.S. them most times . Otherwise you are just watching a black hole in the ice.

[303savage]

when a friend and I go ice fishing we take one of those tin washtubs to light the fire in, a toboggan load of fire wood some grub and a bottle of whiskey.
When we run out of grub and whiskey, we pack up and go home. One of these time we might try drilling some holes in the ice and fish. :-)

[Wild one]

Get a small pop up ice shack, allowes you to see what`s going on down there. You would be amazed at how many big fish swim by and look but never bite. If you can see them you can B.S. them most times . Otherwise you are just watching a black hole in the ice.

Ice hut can really help at times way easier to tease them when you can see the fish

Another trick if you see them stage under your hole is a plain hook small piece of bait and no weight. If you can hold it right infront of the fishes nose they will breath it in or get annoyed and mouth it. Caught some big stubron fish sight fishing with this trick.

[wideopenthrottle]

when a friend and I go ice fishing we take one of those tin washtubs to light the fire in, a toboggan load of fire wood some grub and a bottle of whiskey.
When we run out of grub and whiskey, we pack up and go home. One of these time we might try drilling some holes in the ice and fish. :-)


that is often how it was for us in our teens and twenties too...we eventually dropped the pretense and just called it "ice drinking"...especially later in the season when you knew your twist auger wasnt gonna get through all the ice anyway..heheheh

[jimbc]

Tonnes of good advice. My only tidbit is to drill your hole where you see other holes with blood on the ice. Usually means a good spot!